chrisdetroit

The Ducks are not going to contend for the Cup. The team that won the cup was dismantled the summer after they won. They finished near the bottom of the league in goal scoring last year and went out in the first round. I expect that they will have a tough time just making the playoffs because they are in a tough division. As much as the Canadian sportswriter like a team of big Canadian kids, you have to look beyond the hype and youwill see their are some obvious problems.

You contradicted yourself. Lebda is the fastest skater on the team (along with Drapes and Helm). In today's NHL that is a very valuable asset to have. I wouldn't be upset to see him traded but give him some credit. He's a reliable #6 D-man, handles the puck well and is very fast.

The Ducks were not competative last year despite all the media hype. They made the playoffs despite having nobody that could score goals and promptly got bounced in the first round. They have really added nobody that can improve their scoring and after winning the Cup promptly dismantled their team. They lost McDonald, Penner, Selanne and Bryzgalov and replaced them with older washed up players in Schneider, Weight and Bertuzzi. That's why you can't compare the to them Avs. The Avs kept the same team pretty much intact during their 6 year run. The Ducks years of being on top have ended. I'm not worried about them at all. With Dallas improving and San Jose finally getting rid of Wilson, I expect that the Duckies will have a hard time this year. Then we can stop talking about them.

This is what we've come to. Jesus Christ, when are they going to drop the puck? This is like dying a slow death.

I hope that you are right but alot of people (great hockey minds) had a good feeling about Eric Lindross too.

I had to look it up. You are correct "upside" can mean either trending upward or having a positive aspect. I thought that you were saying that there was nothing positive about them but you meant that they wouldn't get any better. An advantageous aspect: the upsides and downsides of home ownership. An upward tendency, as in business profitability or in the prices of a stock.

I am not going to pretend to know 1/10th as much about hockey as Bowman, Babs, Yzermann, etc. Their opinions are the same as mine - Ericsson will be in GR this year. He has great potential but he is not going to be rushed. Lots of LGR posters want him in the starting line-up for the Wings THIS YEAR. I have no problem with people on here drooling over his potential except when they insist that he is ready now and we should get rid of Lilja and/or Lebda to make room for him. If the guys like Babs thought he was ready, he'd be in the line-up. They don't and he won't at least not this year.

You need to be objective. Ericcson has 8 total NHL games under his belt. He's not ready yet and Lebda and Lilja have little to no upside? If that's so, why would anybody want them in a trade?

It amazes me how everybody is so hot for this kid. He looks good but he has played 8 NHL games TOTAL. People on LGR are drooling all over him because of his size. 2-3 years an he might make the Wings. That's why the wings are so good. They don't rush their young players. Patience. We will see if he is good in a few years. Until then, wipe that drool off of your chin....

Really? When did the Avalanche finish ranked #27 in the league in scoring.... How many time have the Ducks made it to the WCF? 3. Avalanche? 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002. Not much of a comparison.

And the score was 5-0 in game 3 which we won on Duck ice. I don't think that;s indicative of Jiggy giving us much trouble. In fact if you are talking about goaltending, we actually outscored the Ducks in that series. Goaltending was not what beat us.....

Aneheim? That was 2 years ago. Last year they finished 27th in the league in scoring and got bounced from the playoffs in the first round.. Who have they added?....Exactly, nobody and as of right now no Selanne. This year they have to contend with a much improved Stars team and a Sharks team that is if nothing else much better coached. What happened to "they are built for the playoffs?" I'm not worried about the Duckies. Aneheim was a 1 year wonder along with Tampa and Carolina.

Where the $%^$@ did you come up with that? Greedy Finn player? You are on drugs

It is irrelevant to the cap but not to his worth. Many people on here seem to think that he is not woth 3mil this year. Well, he's not making 3 mil this year.

From M-Live Filppula, the club's second-line center, had 19 goals and 17 assists in 78 games last season

I can't believe that we are even discussing this. Flip is on the 2nd line. Period. This has been stated by Babs, Kenny, etc as a fact. I'll dig up the quotes...

Everybody seems to be missing the fact that Flip is NOT making $3mil next year. It is an AVERAGE per year. From M-live he'll earn $2 million this season, $2.5 million in 2009-10 and $3.5 million in each of the final three years Anybody that doesn't think that he's worth $2mil next year is on drugs....

We will see at the end of the year. I expect him to play on the 2nd line all year with Pavs and there are going to be sme pucks going into the net.

Huh? How did you come up with that gem. Our top 6 forwards will be Z, Pavs, Hossa, Mule, Homer and Flip Who plays with whom is debatable but if Flip isn't in the top 6, who is? Sammy? Hudler? Cleary? No... Flip will play on the 2nd line all year. I don't think that's even debatable.

Really? Flip put up 17 points in his rookie year and 36 points in his second year. Everything indicates that he has talent and potential. I'm not sure how you can say that after only 2 years. Zetterburg put up 43 points in his second year. I'm not saying that Flip is the next Zetterburg but the kid does have the potential to be a top notch scorer throughout his career and his scoring in his second year was not that much less than what Henrik did in his second year.

Un ******* believeable. We won the President's Trophy AND the Cup, added a top-notch back-up goalie then turned around and wrapped up our rental player plus added Marian ******* Hossa and people are still bitching about not enough "enforcers". Christ, that same tired old argument is getting old.

At this point it no longer matters. Either he will go to a crappy team or retire. IMO the contenders are: Detroit, San Jose, and Dallas Somebody in the East will make the finals and lose but really will not have a chance - Montreal, Pittsburgh or maybe Philly. So if he went to the Habs, we may see him in later rounds in the playoffs, otherwise his season will end by the end of April. It's hard to get excited about him playing but not having an impact. He had his chance to play for a contender and make a difference but he decided to wait and all the contenders moved on....

It depends on his age when he plays his first game. Nothing is ever simple... Wiavers

Prior to this last season Hossa SUCKED in the playoffs. I thought that we were talking about the players now not 2 years ago. You can't have it both ways. As far as the "he's never been on a team as good as the Wings", that's a weak argument. He played on some very good Ottawa teams including last year's Stanley Cup Finalist team but no Selke nominations and no Cups. Your opinion of Hossa seems to be much higher than the guys that hand out the NHL awards. He's a great player but not as great as you make him out to be.

I'd like to keep them all and I think that Hossa is a great player but right now he is not as good defensively as either Hank or Pavs. He has the potential to be as good defensively and he certainly is very good but he's not there yet. After a year playing under Babcock I would expect him to get to the next level defensively. And no, I'm not sentimental, I want the best players on the Wings.